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Player Discussion Alexis Lafrenière: Part III

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Synergy27 said:
Are you going to tell me that Zegras isn’t a peer because he’s 6 months older? Stutzle? Raymond? Lundell? Mercer?

And again, we had the 1OA pick. The BEST player.
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Every one of those players is getting substantially more ice time than Laffy, as well as time on top powerplay units.
 
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Chaels Arms said:
They need to sit down and have a serious talk with Lafreniere about whether he wants to try playing right wing for an extended period of time.

Kreider and Panarin are not going away anytime soon.
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This....or let him try Center ice for an extended stretch . He is going nowhere at 3rd line LW on this club with almost zilch for PP time/scrap seconds ! Probably the RW experiment would be the best one for sure .
 
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leetch99 said:
This....or let him try Center ice for an extended stretch . He is going nowhere at 3rd line LW on this club with almost zilch for PP time/scrap seconds ! Probably the RW experiment would be the best one for sure .
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RW experiment is a square peg solution. Drury has to figure something out rather than kick the can down the road. Edge mentioned trading Kreider to make space for Laf, but then Kreider breaks out with a historic Ranger season so far.

I don't think Laf will ever graduate with honors from "Ortmeyer's Defensive Stick School". He'd thrive in (eg) Florida's system, playing with speed and fluid puck movement, not so much in the current slow and square Ranger approach. It's no coincidence he looks best with Strome/Buch making fast plays in the slot area. Laf is maybe the player that suffers the most from the loss of Buch for this reason.

Personally I'd be open to trading Panarin (too much money in a covid cap situation, he'd bring a haul, free up space for Laf and I'm not convinced the team is a significantly better team with him) but it's probably awkward "politically" and with his NMC and could create drama the team doesn't need if he isn't open to be moved (why would he). Yet, in this context I'd rather keep Strome warts and all and Kreider.

It will be interesting to see how Drury handles this situation. The easiest, and lamest, is to let it fester for too long instead of making a decision and take action.
 
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There is plenty of room for laf to play first line LW and on PP1
IN HARTFORD
Lets see if he dominates there and gets his confidence
 
KirkAlbuquerque said:
could have ended up with Zegras + Lundell if we didn't win those lotteries. Only the Rongos.

Then again, they probably would have sucked if we took them.
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We'll never know but it is stupid how much complaining happens about he and Kakko for not doing things that our entire roster outside of Fox and Shesterkin have also not been doing. They play for one of the most passive, slow teams in the NHL, but it's surprising that they look slow and passive?
 
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duhmetreE said:
Just make the move to your off-wing permanently. Problem solved.

He's a smart, talented, hard working kid. He'll figure it out
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Easy to say, doesn't mean it will work. It's not as if they haven't tried to cram him onto the Kreider - Zib line before, even at RW. Playing with Panarin and Strome won't work, that line would be bashed in defensively.
 
CLW said:
Easy to say, doesn't mean it will work. It's not as if they haven't tried to cram him onto the Kreider - Zib line before, even at RW. Playing with Panarin and Strome won't work, that line would be bashed in defensively.
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It's lasted a game... or maybe 4 periods before they give up or change it. Funny enough, the product is the same after the move. 'OMG we're creating no offense and getting no shots/chances... lets switch it up'... same result without Laffy.

Consistency. Leave him in the top6 and playing with the same linemates for a few weeks.... as they've done with Kakko.
 
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duhmetreE said:
It's lasted a game... or maybe 4 periods before they give up or change it. Funny enough, the product is the same after the move. 'OMG we're creating no offense and getting no shots/chances... lets switch it up'... same result without Laffy.

Consistency. Leave him in the top6 and playing with the same linemates for a few weeks.... as they've done with Kakko.
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Yeah, this is take two. They did that already throughout the pre-season and start of the regular season, remember? And that was with Laf at his favored LW position. He already said he didn't like RW with that line when he tried it - forcing it on him now smacks of desperation.
 
A lot of guys that Laf is compared to, we have noted are getting bigger minutes and roles with top PP time. One guy who stands out as having mostly bottom six deployment and 14 minutes per game is Seth Jarvis. Laf has 11 points in 42 games. Jarvis has 17 points in 31.

Laf averages 13.5 minutes per game over 42 which comes out to about 565 minutes of ice time. Jarvis’ 14 in 31 comes out to 434. Jarvis was selected 13th overall in the same draft. The two are in similar situations as far as being on good teams and seeing third line minutes rather than being gifted top offensive assignments.

In the long run, it means nothing, but it definitely stings. Laf is 4 or 5 months older and much bigger and was supposed to be an NHL ready player and the top talent hands down. He’s 2 games shy of his 100th NHL game now, and pacing for 20 points this season. I know he mostly plays with guys like Chytil and Gauthier and only gets the tail end of the powerplay, but it’s not as if he gets zero PP time and hasn’t had opportunities with better players. The difference being that when Laf plays with talent, he doesn’t grab the opportunity and other young guys are starting with limited minutes and then seizing opportunities when they are presented.

Laf is 6th on the Rangers with 59 PP minutes. Jarvis is 10th on Carolina with 44. Lundell is 14th on the Panthers with only 24 PP minutes. Lundell is 8 days older than Laf and has 27 points in 40 games. Pacing for 55 points to Laf’s 20.
 
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CLW said:
Yeah, this is take two. They did that already throughout the pre-season and start of the regular season, remember? And that was with Laf at his favored LW position. He already said he didn't like RW with that line when he tried it - forcing it on him now smacks of desperation.
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but they outcome was no different. We have been shit at 5v5 with and without Laf in the top6
 
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Loki Dog 74 said:
A lot of guys that Laf is compared to, we have noted are getting bigger minutes and roles with top PP time. One guy who stands out as having mostly bottom six deployment and 14 minutes per game is Seth Jarvis. Laf has 11 points in 42 games. Jarvis has 17 points in 31.

Laf averages 13.5 minutes per game over 42 which comes out to about 565 minutes of ice time. Jarvis’ 14 in 31 comes out to 434. Jarvis was selected 13th overall in the same draft. The two are in similar situations as far as being on good teams and seeing third line minutes rather than being gifted top offensive assignments.

In the long run, it means nothing, but it definitely stings. Laf is 4 or 5 months older and much bigger and was supposed to be an NHL ready player and the top talent hands down. He’s 2 games shy of his 100th NHL game now, and pacing for 20 points this season. I know he mostly plays with guys like Chytil and Gauthier and only gets the tail end of the powerplay, but it’s not as if he gets zero PP time and hasn’t had opportunities with better players. The difference being that when Laf plays with talent, he doesn’t grab the opportunity and other young guys are starting with limited minutes and then seizing opportunities when they are presented. Laf is 6th on the Rangers with 59 PP minutes. Jarvis is 10th on Carolina with 44. Lundell is 14th on the Panthers with only 24 PP minutes. Lundell is 8 days older than Laf and has 27 points in 40 games. Pacing for 55 points to Laf’s 20.
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He's been glued to Aho.

He played with Stepan for a bit but it's mostly been Aho
 
duhmetreE said:
He's been glued to Aho.

He played with Stepan for a bit but it's mostly been Aho
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But that’s largely because he impressed in a limited role and took advantage of opportunities when they presented themself. He still only averages 14 minutes and is 10 on his team in PP time, where Laf is 6th for us. In the past 2 weeks Jarvis has played 9, 10 and 12 minute nights as well as a couple of 15 minute nights.
 
Loki Dog 74 said:
But that’s largely because he impressed in a limited role and took advantage of opportunities when they presented themself. He still only averages 14 minutes and is 10 on his team in PP time, where Laf is 6th for us. In the past 2 weeks Jarvis has played 9, 10 and 12 minute nights as well as a couple of 15 minute nights.
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I don't think it's a fair comparison. Jarvis would be shit here.

Carolina tears it up 5v5. We have been on the struggle bus all season.

It's futile to talk about it but Laffy would be tearing it up in Carolina... I have zero doubts about it
 
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duhmetreE said:
It's lasted a game... or maybe 4 periods before they give up or change it. Funny enough, the product is the same after the move. 'OMG we're creating no offense and getting no shots/chances... lets switch it up'... same result without Laffy.

Consistency. Leave him in the top6 and playing with the same linemates for a few weeks.... as they've done with Kakko.
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Him on the right side of that line lasted one shift, i like gallant but he isn't giving him much time anywhere but the third line to get used to his linemates.
 
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Loki Dog 74 said:
A lot of guys that Laf is compared to, we have noted are getting bigger minutes and roles with top PP time. One guy who stands out as having mostly bottom six deployment and 14 minutes per game is Seth Jarvis. Laf has 11 points in 42 games. Jarvis has 17 points in 31.

Laf averages 13.5 minutes per game over 42 which comes out to about 565 minutes of ice time. Jarvis’ 14 in 31 comes out to 434. Jarvis was selected 13th overall in the same draft. The two are in similar situations as far as being on good teams and seeing third line minutes rather than being gifted top offensive assignments.

In the long run, it means nothing, but it definitely stings. Laf is 4 or 5 months older and much bigger and was supposed to be an NHL ready player and the top talent hands down. He’s 2 games shy of his 100th NHL game now, and pacing for 20 points this season. I know he mostly plays with guys like Chytil and Gauthier and only gets the tail end of the powerplay, but it’s not as if he gets zero PP time and hasn’t had opportunities with better players. The difference being that when Laf plays with talent, he doesn’t grab the opportunity and other young guys are starting with limited minutes and then seizing opportunities when they are presented.

Laf is 6th on the Rangers with 59 PP minutes. Jarvis is 10th on Carolina with 44. Lundell is 14th on the Panthers with only 24 PP minutes. Lundell is 8 days older than Laf and has 27 points in 40 games. Pacing for 55 points to Laf’s 20.
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Jarvis plays on the top line with Tervainen and Aho. Aho is his most common forward linemate by over 80 minutes.

Edit: Missed that someone already mentioned this.
 
duhmetreE said:
I don't think it's a fair comparison. Jarvis would be shit here.

Carolina tears it up 5v5. We have been on the struggle bus all season.

It's futile to talk about it but Laffy would be tearing it up in Carolina... I have zero doubts about it
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I’m sure it’s possible, but to say zero doubts is pretty strong. It’s dubious to say there aren’t any doubts about Laf right now. I’m far from giving up on the kid, but I am much less certain he’d be tearing it up elsewhere. A guy like Jarvis on the other hand, I doubt would be any worse on our third line than Laf is, nor any less successful when given the chance to play with Zib, etc. than Laf has been. His ceiling is obviously significantly lower, but as far as impact currently, I doubt we’d notice a difference.
 
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